Meet Me at the Lighthouse

Celebrations are par for the course here at the Harbour Town Lighthouse, and many of them begin with this simple, clear invitation, “Meet me at the lighthouse.” Yet this month we celebrate a new kind of occasion. September marks the 40^th anniversary of the United States Lighthouse Society, a member organization that helps us combine our efforts, making sure these unique landmarks continue to thrive, and to work their magic on the folks who are fortunate to visit them.

We must be the youngest sister in the Society. Approaching our 55^th birthday, the Harbour Town Lighthouse is a whole century younger than some of the other members. And, truth be told, we were conceived and built primarily to guide people, rather than ships. At this, we have to admit we’ve been so successful that it surprises us sometimes, welcoming as many as a quarter million guests a year to our lighthouse here in Harbour Town.

People and Fulfillment

Instead of keeping shipmasters and mariners off the rocks, the Harbour Town Lighthouse turned out to be a source of inspiration, and even of fulfillment. Stories we treasure here include engagements, weddings, first kisses, and even the flash of innovation that led to a few business fortunes.

The view from the lighthouse, changing with the hours and the seasons, seems to be all it takes to transform how people see things sometimes. The view of the lighthouse welcomes visitors new and old – and residents, too – and assures them that they have come to the right place.

Another Kind of Authenticity

Being a beacon for people rather than ships doesn’t make our Harbour Town Lighthouse any less real. Some of the landmarks in our own history attest to the fact that we take our job seriously, even as we practice it joyfully. In the course of being authentic, the lighthouse has evolved from a storytelling attraction to an official Coast Guard Museum to a beacon from a genuine Fresnel lens, the early-19^th-century optical invention that gave lighthouses their lifesaving power.

For many years, in fact, the lighthouse stood empty, serving as a landmark but little else. Then Sea Pines entrepreneur Mark King and the remarkable woman who became our first and only Lighthouse Keeper, Nadia Wagner, started The Shoppe at the Top, where Harbour Town Visitors could bring home remembrances that they couldn’t discover anywhere else.

The Story of Our Island

In the early 2000s, Mark asked local character and historian Porter Thompson to curate an exhibit for each of the landings along the 114 steps to the top of the lighthouse. Among the exhibits Porter created is the story of our beloved Hilton Head Island. On our way to the top, we discover the prehistoric people who gathered at the ancient shell ring to celebrate the abundance of seaside life.

We meet the visionary founder of Sea Pines, Charles Fraser, who saw a world-class resort embedded in nature, where his own father saw only a stand of timber for harvesting. We see the birth of the Heritage Classic, a tournament that established Hilton Head Island in that world-class role, leading us to the present day, where people can greet their friends anywhere in the world from the webcam where they grin and hug at the top of the lighthouse.

A Couple of Crowning Confirmations

When the United States Coast Guard recognized the Harbour Town Lighthouse as an official Coast Guard Museum – and donated the massive model of their legendary training ship, the square-rigged sail Eagle – the recognition confirmed what we had worked to achieve all along. The Harbour Town Lighthouse is the real thing.

When the Sea Pines Resort partnered with us to commission the creation of an authentic Fresnel lens – the invention that Napoleon himself commissioned in the early 19^th century to make transport and commerce safer – that was a crowning achievement literally as well as spiritually.

It also was yet another example of how community and cooperation are written between every line of Harbour Town Lighthouse history.

Come, meet us at the lighthouse and see what we mean. We will always be delighted to welcome you.